Poveglia
by black-licorice-and-sugar
Summary: Archaeology major, Alfred Jones, takes an illegal trip to the Venician island, Poveglia, a land mass renowned for its dark yet mysterious background, on a dare from friends; rule of the dare is to remain on the island for 4 days, with friends of course, and first to chicken out gets a penalty. All is well until Alfred's friends begin dropping out one by one unexpectedly.
1. Island of Madness

Poveglia Island.

An abandoned isle of the coast of Venice, once home to an active asylum which, in turn, was home to hundreds of lost souls labeled as mad in 1922.

The story went much deeper than that.

In the time of the Plague, Romans believed in keeping the sick away from the healthy to conserve what they could of their empire. For anyone who showed any sign of sickness in the country of Italy, they were shipped off to this small vicinity to die. Some were allowed to let the sickness of unknown origins take them away slowly to nothing; others were not so lucky. More than 87% of the infected, adults, children and infants alike, were thrown to pits and burned alive in mass. Due to such a quantity of the dead, an estimated 160,000+, the very ground of Poveglia is said to be about 50% human remains, making the ground rich and fertile and an ideal place of agriculture to make up for the horrors that took place.

However, more suffering lay in this island's history. The infamous Poveglia Asylum was erected not too long later once the aftermath of the Plague had died and the island was deemed fit to live on. For such an innocent sounding story, it is anything but; the man, to this day unknown and unnamed in history, whom was the head doctor. Nothing is known of this man excepting from journals written by patients and the doctor himself, taking notes on the tenants of the asylum and what he's done to 'help' them. This anonymous man has no name and, yet, he is well known throughout Italy as a scary story told to children.

Dr.K, as he referred to himself as in his notes, conducted lobotomies, butchered his patients, in some cases, ate them and took some, as patients seemed to fear, to the bell tower for worse, unspecified lacerations where the doctor was later said to have thrown himself off of after being driven mad by the cries and hauntings of his victims over the years.

To this day, the island has been closed off by the Italian government as it is said any who stay on the island for too long will be brought to insanity by the sound of pounds and footsteps in daylight, screams of terror and cries of anguish in the night. As this seemed a bit unrealistic, there are thrill seekers who, against government restriction, will take a trip to visit Poveglia themselves. Some came back, some didn't. Others were traumatized by God-knows-what and did not make a public statement over what happened.

The legend of the haunting of Poveglia is shrouded in mystery and dark secrets.

Does this mean young archaeology major, Alfred F. Jones, is going to back down from a dare despite the possibility of being arrested and his fear of the supernatural?

Hell to the no.

* * *

><p>A.N.: I saw the history and general creepiness of Poveglia Island, which is now being sold, and came up with this story.<p>

This contains partially correct information on the island and is simply meant to be for entertainment.

Mature ratings because of later gory things and maybe a bit of a triggering atmosphere.

To the 1st Place winner of the giveaway, it'll take a bit more time to write what you've requested since I have to look up a bit on hypnotism.

Thank you.


	2. Placing Bets

Was it really worth it though?

Fuck yeah it was! $4,000 from each person in on the dare?! Fuck if he'd leave first!

Alfred Jones, plucky teenager of 19 years, wasn't going to pass up what was basically free tuition for his college classes if he had anything to say about it. He'd done the math in his head; Kiku, Francis, Ludwig, Ivan, Yao, Feliciano, Matthew, Gilbert, Romano and Antonio (10 people) times $4,000 equals a shit ton of money that was going straight to this goddamned archaeological trip to Italy.

Sure, Poveglia wasn't Disneyland in its ability to welcome people in, but money was money and, hey, the asylum was going to be brought down in place of 5 star hotel so this would be their only chance to get a nice, historical find on the island. This could be a learning opportunity. This could be the kind of adventure he was looking for when he'd decided to be an archaeologist.

This could be the first time since he was a kid that he shit his pants and started crying.

The bet had been made and was immediately taken to effect; as he tried to think of more cheery matters, Alfred was right on his way to Poveglia in a small rowboat with Kiku and Francis.

It hadn't even been that difficult to get on the water; just a few euros to rent 3 boats and dodging the police had been a breeze. They were sure if someone had seen them on the way to the island from the bay on Venice, there'd have been whistles and motorboats after them. Yet the docks remained eerily silent and dark.

No one dared to speak though, in case their voices carried. It was setting Alfred on edge and he was having enough trouble keeping his arms from jittering on the paddles as they got closer and closer to the Island of Madness, as the students who took the trip here called it.

Kiku seemed to notice, while Francis slept away in the rear, and moved forward in the small boat so he could whisper and not disrupt the harsh silence. The boat shook slightly from the shift in weight which only worked to get Alfred's already tense muscles to clench in slight apprehension that the boat might tip over.

"Sorry, Alfred-san." The Japanese exchange student sat on the wooden seat directly in front of the American and placed a hand on his shoulder, meant to be comforting. "You seem a bit frightened and tense. Do you need to rest? I could row for a bit and we could rotate with Francis-san." Ah, Kiku. The mother hen that had once nearly cried apologizing over Alfred getting a paper cut on the Asian's English Literature textbook. The blonde didn't think he could carry a 30 pound box let alone drag his, Alfred's and Francis's weight across water with sheer strength. The thought was appreciated though.

Alfred may have even agreed had it not been his only way to keep his thoughts of the stories of Poveglia at bay as he was having a mental race with Ivan, rower of boat #2 with passengers Yao and Gilbert, Matthew sitting quietly in the back, placing bets on who'd bail first, who was rowing at his leisure and completely unaware of Alfred's contest. But Alfred was totally winning. "No thanks, dude. No offense, but you'd slow us down and I'd rather not get left behind."

Taking none and even laughing a bit, the brunette brought his hand back to himself and sighed as he looked past Alfred's shoulder at the island which Alfred had made a point not to look at during the ride here.

"Really Alfred-san, if you can't handle this, then what are you doing in this field of study? There has to be so much more out there that goes beyond a creepy asylum on an island used during the Plague and you'll just have to get used to it." When you were great friends with someone as reserved as Kiku, you'd find he has no filter really.

"Harsh, man." Laughing a bit too loudly and getting a hissing shush from Ludwig, guiding boat #3, before he quieted. "It's not so much the place but the rumors. I mean….ghosts…people getting their faces shredded, voices? Doesn't any of that worry you? Even if it's not a ghost, there might be something on the island. "Ivan pulled up beside their boat and smiled at Alfred in a threatening way.

"Is that fear I hear, Alfred? Never show the fear or you will be the first." Totally not threatening.

Said blonde grimaced as Ivan paddled away from him and commented his bet was on Alfred.

"I'm not saying there isn't, because there may be an animal of some sort that drifted there. But in that case, Ludwig-san packed flare guns so we may alert Venice if we are unable to return to the boats." Sounded a fair enough plan, but…

Alfred jolted forward as the bow of the boat hit the land of Poveglia, throwing Kiku back and knocking Francis off his curled position on a seat.

"_Mon dieu_! _Ca c'était quoi_?!" The Frenchman picked himself up and proceeded to help up the Japanese boy, being a little too handsy.

"Land!" The burly German in boat 3 called out, earning a chorus of 'no shits' from several people, Alfred included though he refused to look up at the construct of the asylum as he got out to drag the boat the rest of the way up shore. Gilbert and Ludwig got out to do the same but once they reached edge of where salt water met land, they halted.

The truth rose up about this island and suddenly they all felt sick. 50% human remains made up this land mass and they were going to desecrate its memory by screwing around for a whole four days. Not to mention it was gross. They'd all gotten their shots before coming here in case traces of the Bubonic Plague remained but they were all still hesitant about breathing in the air that had once been filled with the smell of burning flesh and pestilence, stepping on the muddy, gooey ashes of long forgotten mothers, fathers, children, babies. Afraid of being left to the island's will if the rumors be truth.

Feeling a chill run down his spine despite the slightly humid, mid-summer air, Alfred was the first to step on the beach of Poveglia Island, the Island of Madness, combat boots sinking into muddy, stickiness that made him shiver though he couldn't feel it. He pushed ahead though, Gilbert and Ludwig following a minute later, and ignored the crunch he could feel once in a while when he stepped on a particularly sticky spot. Deciding it best to take his eyes away from the tar blackness of the beach, Alfred finally rose his cyan eyes to the island before him and looked towards the bell tower of the asylum that was the only part of its entirety not hidden behind thick vines and moss and trees.

And he could swear he saw, or at least felt, the spire looking right back at him.


End file.
